Large-scale assessments such as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) have field trials where new survey features are tested for utility in the main survey. Because of resource constraints, there is a trade-off between how much of the sample can be used to test new survey features and how much can be used for the initial item…

Assessment items are commonly field tested prior to operational use to observe statistical item properties such as difficulty. Item parameter estimates from field testing may be used to assign scores via pre-equating or computer adaptive designs. This study examined differences between item difficulty estimates based on field test and operational…

Making inferences and reasoning with new scientific information is critical for successful performance in biology coursework. Thus, identifying students who are weak in these skills could allow the early provision of additional support and course placement recommendations to help students develop their reasoning abilities, leading to better…

Item positions in educational assessments are often randomized across students to prevent cheating. However, if altering item positions results in any significant impact on students' performance, it may threaten the validity of test scores. Two widely used approaches for detecting position effects -- logistic regression and hierarchical…

Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) Operational Study 4 Component 3 was designed to compare performance on PARCC mathematics field-test items for grade 3 taken with and without a drawing tool. For the 2016 testing window, five field-test items were selected to have the directions edited to allow students to…

This report provides a description of the development process, field testing, and psychometric properties of the fall 2015 grades 3-5 Elementary Mathematics Student Assessment (EMSA), a student mathematics test designed to be administered in a whole-group setting to students in grades 3, 4, and 5. The test was administered to 2,614 participating…

This report provides a description of the development process, field testing, and psychometric properties of a student mathematics test designed to assess grades K, 1, and 2 student abilities. The test was administered to 4,535 participating grade K, 1, and 2 students in 66 schools located in 9 public school districts in Florida during spring…

This report provides a description of the development process, field testing, and psychometric properties of a student mathematics test designed to assess grades K, 1, and 2 student abilities. The test was administered to 4,486 participating grade K, 1, and 2 students in 67 schools located in 10 public school districts in Florida during fall 2015.…

The purpose of this study was to develop a core HIV/AIDS knowledge assessment (CHAKA) for students enrolled in counseling-related degree programs. Although there are studies that examined counseling HIV/AIDS knowledge, the instruments that were used were limited in ways that may compromise the accuracy of the inferences that were made. This study…

Despite the impact of genetics on daily life, biology undergraduates understand some key genetics concepts poorly. One concept requiring attention is dominance, which many students understand as a fixed property of an allele or trait and regularly conflate with frequency in a population or selective advantage. We present the Dominance Concept…

Introduction: This exploratory study determined whether transcribing selected test items on an adult life and work skills reading test into braille could maintain the same approximate scale-score range and maintain fitness within the item response theory model as used by the Comprehensive Adult Student Assessment Systems (CASAS) for developing…

Between March and June of 2014, the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium conducted a field test of its new online assessment system. Thirteen participating states provided the results of surveys given to students and adults involved in the Field Test. Overall, more than 70% of test coordinators in each of seven states indicated that the Field…

The Malaysian Ministry of Education strongly emphasises the development of science process skills, as evidenced by the stipulation of seven basic and five integrated science process skills into the science curriculum across grade levels and scientific disciplines. As such, there is a pressing need to assess the acquisition of these science process…

The aim of this study was to apply Rasch modeling to an examination of the psychometric properties of the "Pearson Test of English Academic" (PTE Academic). Analyzed were 140 test-takers' scores derived from the PTE Academic database. The mean age of the participants was 26.45 (SD = 5.82), ranging from 17 to 46. Conformity of the participants'…

Purpose: This study tested key psychometric properties of the Older Adult Psychological Abuse Measure (OAPAM), one self-report scale of the Older Adult Mistreatment Assessment (OAMA). Design and Methods: Items and theory were developed in a prior concept mapping study. Subsequently, the measures were administered to 226 substantiated clients by 22…